Thread: Bridge-crossing wait ignites political fight

Bridge-crossing wait ignites political fight

elpasotimes.com
By Daniel Borunda \ El Paso Times
Posted: 12/24/2011 12:00:00 AM MST

Lengthy waits on El Paso's border bridges have sparked a political royal rumble in the Democratic primary for the 16th U.S. Congressional District.

The primary election isn't until April 3 but political punches were flying Friday, the day after U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes announced he had spoken with high-level U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to expedite border crossing times.

Reyes said the CBP has opened more pedestrian lanes during the holiday season and is revising procedures for processing bus passengers. He said 78 more CBP officers will come to El Paso in the coming months.

Reye's challengers claim he hasn't done enough to shorten long waits on the border that have frustrated commuters, merchants and tourists for years.

Reyes' announcement came two days after city Rep. Steve Ortega decided to spotlight long waits at the border. Before Tuesday's City Council meeting, Ortega drove into Juárez, turned around toward El Paso and spent 90 minutes waiting to cross the border and was late for his meeting.

Reyes faces former city Rep. Beto O'Rourke, educator Jerome Tilghman and recall activist Ben E. "Buddy" Mendoza in the primary.

"I think most El Pasoans see through what (Reyes) is doing. He has not acted on this until it was a front-page news story," O'Rourke said. " É It's too little, too late for the congressman to pay attention to this."

O'Rourke said the waits at the border hurt the economy of the El Paso region. Some people have complained about waiting up to three hours to enter El Paso.

"We have done everything we can at the local level," O'Rourke said. "Our representative, Silvestre Reyes, who has been in office for 16 years, has done little progress. In fact, things have gotten worse, and he should be held accountable."

Michael Breitinger was executive director of the El Paso Central Business Association for a dozen years until August. He said that border waits have worsened in recent years but that Reyes has always tried to help.

"The problem is not Congressman Reyes," Breitinger said. "It would be a problem with whoever is in that office. It is the rest of Congress. Congress does not support what is going on at the border. They are worried about illegal immigration instead of dealing with legal immigration and commerce on the border."

Reyes' spokesman Jose Borjon said that the call to the CBP was scheduled before Ortega's Juárez trip and that Reyes has always worked on bridge issues, including acquiring $600 million for border security last year.

"It is sad that all the good that Congressman Reyes does for his community and El Paso is politicized, criticized and dragged in the mud by a handful of loud and biased people who will say and do anything to help their political allies," Borjon said.

Tilghman, a retired Army major who has taught government and politics at El Paso Community College, said border waits are important but are not the signature issue in the race.

"In the print news and television, what we are seeing is, 'Look what I am doing for you' messages" from Reyes, Tilghman said. "Now we have Steve Ortega, who is an ally of Mr. O'Rourke when he was on City Council, is now taking Tuesday mornings, when he should be at council meetings, to go into Juárez. If this was a priority, this should have became important to the council before it became a signature issue for Mr. O'Rourke."

Tilghman said education of the labor force is a better solution to El Paso's economic woes than focusing on lines at the border. "Those are short-term fixes to a long-term problem," he said.

Earlier this year, the City Council proposed giving city money from bridge tolls to the federal government to pay for more CBP inspectors.

Ortega said he normally does not get calls about border waits but got "a flood of phone calls" after his publicized trip across the Bridge of the Americas.

"I think a lot of people in the region had given up," said Ortega, who plans go to Juárez again before the next council meeting.

"They felt it was a useless exercise (to complain) because we had grown to expect it for so long," Ortega said. "The city several months ago identified this as a priority issue for the council to address. It involves the auto commuter, the pedestrian and it involves the international commerce-related business. It involves several layers in our community."

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_19612705?

Let them all out of the country but don't let them all back in.